Posted : 14 years ago on 1 April 2011 04:29
(A review of
Pieces of April)
After a ridiculous 6 years, Katie Holmes decided to divorce Tom Cruise and you wonder if the damaged done to her career might ever be recovered. Indeed, before becoming a circus show with her now ex-husband Tom Cruise, I believe that Katie Holmes was one of the most promising actresses around and this movie was a fine example. Basically, it was just a small movie, on eof these typical quirky indie features, but I thought that the story was nice, the directing was decent and all actors involved, including Katie Holmes, gave some solid perfomances. Indeed, the issue with many movies in this genre is that, even though the characters are supposed to be funny and/or whimsical, they sometimes end up being rather obnoxious but it wasn't the case here. Concerning the director Peter Hedges, I thought it was a solid directing effort and, a few laters, he stept up his game with ‘Dan in Real Life’, a feature similar in tone but definitely more ambitious. Eventually, ‘Dan in Real Life’ was not bad either but I still preferred his first directing effort. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 1 April 2011 04:20
(A review of
Gotcha!)
To be honest, it is quite an obscure flick and I wonder how I actually ended up watching the damned thing. On top of that, with such a lame title, this movie already had a massive disadvantage before I even started watching the damned thing. Anyway, at the end of the day, it was basically one of those typical 80's movies with a lot of cheese on the top of it. I have to admit it though, the concept was actually interesting and there was definitely some potential but the end-product was just too average for me. Furthemore, I think that Anthony Edwards was just not charismatic enough to be the lead and maybe the whole thing was just too cheesy for me... Still, I always thought that Linda Fiorentino was a fascinating actress (such a shame that she is pretty much retired nowadays), I’m pretty sure she was the main reason I watched this flick and, in the contrary to Edwards, she was just perfect for her role as she was basically born to play such femme fatales. To conclude, even though the whole thing was rather half-baked, somehow, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 1 April 2011 04:15
(A review of
How Stella Got Her Groove Back)
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick (was it a really cool or actually lame title? I’m still not sure…) but since I always had a weak spot for Angela Bassett, I thought I might as well give it a try. Anyway, I have to admit that it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, in my opinion, both leads had enough chemistry and I was really able to believe that such a relationship could exist, with his positive and negative aspects. In fact, I would go as far as saying that it was one of the more convincing movies dealing with a relationship between an older woman and a younger man. Unfortunately, there were also some few annoying scenes. For example, why on Earth did Whoopy Goldberg's character had to die?!? I thought it was really lame and it seemed a real artificial way to create some unecessary drama. On a side note, this movie was actually based on a book written by Terry McMillan who had similar experience as Stella. However, even though she did marry a young Jamaican in his 20’s while she was in her 40’s , he turned out to be gay and they eventually divorced. Anyway, to conclude, it is not a great picture whatsoever but I still think it is still worth a look though.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 1 April 2011 09:49
(A review of
The Hurt Locker)
I already saw this movie but, since I have it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Even though 'American Sniper' was a huge box-office success and, therefore, so far, the most popular movie about the war in Irak, in my opinion, this movie is actually the best one about this subject. In fact, back then, even though this movie was heralded by the critics, it was actually completely ignored by the audience but, somehow, almost a full year after its release, it still managed to end up winning the Best Picture Academy award. Anyway, even though I didn't care much for 'American Sniper' which was in my opinion actually seriously overrated, this movie was just really fascinating though and I was on the edge of my seat during most of the duration. Indeed, I thought it was so much more interesting to see a guy risking his life trying to prevent people from getting killed, including himself, instead of the usual soldiers ending killing a whole bunch of people for some usually rather dubious reasons. While re-watching it, I thought it was also a really solid depiction of PTSD, probably one of the best I have seen so far. Furthermore, the directing was also very good and all the actors involved (especially Jeremy Renner in a star making performance) gave some really strong performances. It's too bad that, even though this movie turned out to be a big critical success, Kathryn Bigelow had managed to direct only 2 movies during the next 20 years (‘Detroit’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ which were both really solid though). Anyway, to conclude, even if it turned out to be the lowest grossing Best Picture winner ever, I really liked the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 31 March 2011 12:23
(A review of
Stray Dog)
I can’t believe I haven’t seen any movies directed by Akira Kurosawa for such a long time. A few years ago, I was doing a good job and ended up watching 13 of his movies but, by now, it has been almost 10 years since I saw another one of his movies. It is a real shame but maybe I will pick it up again later on. Anyway, this flick is probably not one of his most famous ones but I really loved it. As a matter of fact, this is the oldest movie directed by Akira Kurosawa that I have seen and, at the time when it was released, he was not yet really famous abroad (with no internet, it wasn’t really easy to reach a wide audience so rapidly as today) but it definitely changed with ‘Rashomon’ which would be released a year later and Kurosawa became suddenly overnight one of the most highly regarded directors in the world. Coming back to our main feature, it is a rather simple story but thanks to Kurosawa’s efficient directing and Toshiro Mifune’s fine performance, it was really a fascinating film noir. To conclude, it is a simple tale but masterly told and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Kurosawa’s work.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 31 March 2011 12:11
(A review of
The Wedding Banquet)
I'm pretty sure I already saw the damned thing but since it was probably more than 20 years ago, I was really eager to check it out again. However, I remember very well when it came out though. Indeed, my sister was really enthusiast about this movie and she was the one who actually made me discover Ang Lee. Basically, way before ‘Brokeback Mountain’, Ang Lee directed this gem about gay love. Back then, obviously, nobody knew who was this director, myself included, but I was really impressed by this romantic-comedy. Thanks to this movie and its critical success, his career took off and he was then able to create all his following amazing features. The movie itself was obviously a comedy but a really sensitive one, it dealt very well with the subject and it was also really entertaining. You can imagine that, with such a concept, they could have made one of these terribly lame comedies with some really stupid gay jokes. Eventually, Lee would direct one last one movie in Taiwan (the also really charming ‘Yin shi nan nu’) but he would quickly start a prolific international career becoming in the process easily one of the best directors of his generation. Coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though this movie is nowadays pretty much forgotten, it is actually a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ang Lee’s work.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 31 March 2011 11:32
(A review of
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003))
Back in the 90's, I used to be a huge fan of Takeshi Kitano and I ended up watching 9 of his movies. I have to admit that, nowadays, I don't follow much his work anymore but it doesn't seem I'm missing much. Anyway, this flick was the last Kitano feature I had the pleasure to watch. If I'm not mistaken, it is the most commercially successful movie directed by Takeshi Kitano, at least in Japan where this Zaitochi character is really popular (They have already made something like 20 movies about him). So, it deals with a well known (at least in Japan) fictional figure and it was not as heavy than the usual Kitano's work. Anyway, it still looked really awsome, Kitano gave, as usual, an impressive performance and the whole thing was just damned entertaining to watch. It has become absolutely one of my favorite movies made by Kitano. to conclude, it is a beautiful and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Japanese movies.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 31 March 2011 11:28
(A review of
High and Low)
More than 20 years ago, I started to get really interested in movies and I started to discover the great classics. In this journey, one of my first discoveries would be Akira [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]n the 90’s, I have seen many of his movies and he has been ever since one of my favorite directors. Even though Kurosawa has been mostly famous for his samuraï movies (‘Rashomon’, ‘Ran’, ‘Kagemusha’, ‘Yojimbo’, ‘Shichinin no samurai’,…) , he also did direct a few contemporary features and this one was the best of the bunch in my opinion. Indeed, basically, it is a raw and realistic thriller and it was so spellbinding that, in its own sub- genre (abduction thriller), it is easily the best movie I have ever seen. It was actually a rather simple and straightforward tale with no shootings, no chases, no explosions, but it was still really spellbinding to behold. In my opinion, the masterstroke was to focus on the characters and what they were going through instead of the usual far-fetched gimmicks involved in this genre. Anyway, it was just a captivating story brought by an amazing cast and it shows that Kurosowa was a director with a very wide range. To conclude, I I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in Akira Kurosawa’s work.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 31 March 2011 11:24
(A review of
Taboo)
I remember it very well, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Indeed, back then, I had never seen something similar before and I was quite blown away by the whole thing. First of all, I thought it was a really gorgeous movie and all the members of the cast gave some very good performances. Above all, I thought that the story was just fascinating. Indeed, by now, I have seen my share of samurai features but the whole homosexual angle was just so unexpected but also really refreshing. The only minor critic I might have is that the whole thing was rather sluggish towards the end but that was something rather minor. By now, it is only the 3rd movie directed by Oshima that I have seen so far (including also ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’ and ‘Ai no corrida’) and it’s too bad that I haven’t seen more movies from this Japanese master. Unfortunately, Oshima got a severe stroke in the 90’s, a stroke from which he never fully recovered and this movie would be his last directing effort. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was quite mesmerizing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Asian movies.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Posted : 14 years ago on 30 March 2011 12:46
(A review of
W.)
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but it sounded intriguing and I always had a weak spot for Oliver Stone's work so I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I really liked the damned thing. First of all, I have to make something clear, I'm really a sucker for movies about politics so the main subject was really interesting to me. However, the first thing that stroke me was Josh Brolin who gave here a great performance. Only for him, it is really worth watching this movie. What was also very interesting is that they managed to give some nuances about W. Bush and even though you can see that he is not really bright, you can't avoid feel sympathy for the guy and I think it shows how well done this movie was. It's too bad the movie didn't keep its edge and lost focus later on. For example, they show his whole journey from Yale student to Texas governor but, then, they abruptly stopped. Why not showing his first very controversial presidential election? or 09/11? So, it was flawed but Oliver Stone definitely succeeded in creating a rather fascinating portrait of someone who pretty much looked like an incompetent moron to me. To conclude, even though it is indeed not entirely successful, I do think it is actually underrated and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments,
Reply to this entry
Login
Home
585 Lists
7791 Reviews
Collections